Ethics in the digital workplace
Digitisation and automation technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), can affect working conditions in a variety of ways and their use in the workplace raises a host of new ethical concerns.
The Spanish banking group Santander has announced 500 job cuts at its German headquarters in Mönchengladbach.
The reasons given for the decision include the simplification of the business model and the withdrawal from the new construction financing business. The bank plans to reduce the number of jobs from around 4,100 to 3,600 by the end of 2026. The number expected are full-time positions but since people are also employed part-time, the number of employees affected is likely to be higher. The company is aiming for a socially responsible reduction in jobs through natural fluctuation, voluntary and early retirement programmes.
Santander Bank last closed 100 branches and cut 600 jobs in 2017 as part of the merger of the previously separate sales networks of Santander 2017 - DE Santander Consumer Bank and Santander Bank.
Eurofound (2024), Santander Consumer Bank, Internal restructuring in Germany, factsheet number 201082, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/201082.